Libraries

Library Support

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally
accessible and useful. Facilitating library access to scholarly texts brings us one
step closer to this goal. We're thankful to the libraries and librarians who make
it possible.

We provide two ways to make it easier for your patrons to access the electronic and
print resources in your library when they're using Google Scholar.

Library Links

Library links are article-level links to subscription full text for patrons
affiliated with a library. This program works best for electronic resources, such
as journal and conference articles.

To sign up, you'll need an OpenURL-compatible link resolver, such as SFX from Ex
Libris, 360 Link from Serials Solutions, LinkSource from EBSCO, or WebBridge from
Innovative Interfaces. We also support several smaller vendors and regional
products. Please contact the vendor of your link resolver to get included in Google
Scholar.

The vendor will normally ask you to fill a registration form that contains your
subscriber IPs and the text of the link. They will then augment this information
with your electronic holdings, and make this data available to our automatic
indexing system. Your links should appear in Google Scholar within a week or two
from the time the vendor makes your data available to our search robots.

Please also contact your vendor if you need to make changes to your registration,
or to remove it entirely. E.g., if you're moving to a different product, you will
need to ask the old vendor to remove your old record, and ask the new vendor to add
a new record for you. Once the vendor makes a change at their end, our automatic
update process should normally pick it up within a week or two.

Library Search

Library search offers links to book catalogs where the patron can check local
availability of a book, or request a library loan. This program works best for
print resources, such as textbooks and monographs.

To sign up, you'll need to participate in a union catalog, such as OCLC's Open
WorldCat. We also work with many other national and regional union catalogs.

Participating union catalogs make their bibliographic records available to our
automatic indexing system. We index these records and link to the union catalog
pages, which, in turn, normally link to the catalog of your library.

You don't need to register with us for library search. We link to union catalogs,
and the union catalogs link to individual library collections. Please contact your
union catalog if you have questions about library search.

Library Policies

Google's use of electronic holdings information

We will use electronic holdings information for generating per article links in our
search results to library servers. We will not share this information with third
parties or use it for marketing purposes.

Library holdings usage information

We will not share information with third parties on the usage of your electronic
holdings or on aggregate usage based on institutional characteristics or profiles.

Libraries can withdraw electronic holdings information

Libraries can ask us to stop using previously available electronic holdings
information either automatically by removing the holdings information, or manually
by sending
us a request. Once the information is no longer available to us, we will stop
using it within 30 days.

Library Questions

How do I sign up for the Library Links program?

Please contact the provider of your link resolver service/software. We have
worked with link resolver vendors to make it easy for libraries to participate in
this program. In many cases, it could be as simple as a configuration option in
your link resolver.

How do I get included in Library Search?

To have your library included in the 'Library Search' program, you will need to
join your national union catalog. If there is no national union catalog in your
country, please contact OCLC to see if you can join the OCLC Open Worldcat.

How much do you charge for Library Links and Library Search?

Library Links and Library Search are both free of charge.

How do I remove my library from Library Links?

You'll need to contact the vendor of the link resolver that added you to the
program. Once they remove your record from their registration file, our robots
will refresh their data and remove your links from our website. Keep in mind that
this process usually takes a week or two.

We moved to a different link resolver. How do I update our Library
Links?

You'll need to unregister the old link resolver and register the new one. If
you're switching vendors, the old vendor will need to remove your record from
their registration file and the new vendor will need to add one to theirs. Once
both vendors have updated their records, the switchover should be complete within
a week or two. We recommend that both link resolvers are available during this
transition period, to avoid interruption of service to your patrons.

Can you show my link resolver button instead of the text link?

Sorry, we're unable to use buttons or other images. Google Scholar user interface
is text-oriented. Text loads faster and is easier on people's eyes.

Is electronic holdings information necessary for participating in the
Library Links program?

Yes. We have found that users are far more likely to take advantage of links that
lead them to full text versions of the content.

Why do you need the IP address range for our patrons?

We need IP address ranges so that your links will automatically appear for people
accessing Google Scholar from these networks. Other patrons - for instance, off
campus students - will need to configure their affiliation in their own Scholar
settings.

We strongly encourage you to provide your patrons' IP address ranges. Many good
services go unused simply because people don't configure their computer to
utilize them.

Do you share our holdings or registration data with anyone else?

Absolutely not.

How does a user who is off campus know about my library's holdings with
Google Scholar?

These users will need to configure their affiliation in their own Scholar
settings. Then, they will see links to your library's resolver.

Note that off-campus users will probably not come to the resolver from the
authorized IP addresses. You'll need to make sure the resolver offers appropriate
authentication options to them.

How do you handle user authentication?

We don't. People who don't come from your networks can still select your library
in their settings. It's up to you to authenticate your patrons. You can choose
the authentication mechanism that works best for you.

How do I make sure users have the best experience with my link
resolver?

We'll review your configuration and get back to you within a week or two. Once we
add you to the program, our robots will periodically visit your URLs and update
the links on our website appropriately.